well there was lots of features i did want, but then i switched back to adium and gave adium 2.0 a shot. it has everything i want, i only miss acouple of things from ichat. but here is what ichat would need to have for me to give it another shot. it needs tabbed instant messaging, all those im screens take up way to much room. when you have an away message, it should actually respond back with the away message. it should have easier access to user profiles and information, for a long time i thought ichat didnt support member profiles or alerts when they sign on, but i found it the other day when i was looking around. also they should add an event bezel for people to customize to their liking. i know there are some freeware add-ons on versiontracker, but it should be included.

I think Im the only person who doesnt care for the bubble messages. Seriously, they need to be replaced with something less cartoonish. OSX is being streamlined and turned into a professional looking OS. The bubbles just kind of make the whole tone of the program drop. I know you can change them to separated rectangles, but that so boring. C'mon Apple, do your thing! Aside from that, I like some Adium2 features like tabbed messages. iChat definitely needs a AIM profile manager and support for more than just AIM networks.

Sorry for the regurgitation of ideas, but anything repeated is more support.

see, the reason why i want ichat to support other stuff is simply because i think its the best chat prog out there. i like how it looks, how well it works with the os and the idea that apple is backing it makes it even better

In general, I would rather see 3rd parties doing the chatting and keeping it compatible with each other - no MSN Messenger, no iChat.

If Apple are going to do chat, then make it much better by integrating with other operating system functions and iApps (iPhoto is one good idea!).

There are lots of things you can do if 2 computers know where each other are. We take for granted what we can do with computers in the same office or house - what about if all the things you can do with nearby computers (sharing printers, photos, moving files back and forth, accessing a database) - what if that could be done over iChat?

All your registered buddies could be optionally authorised just like any other user - use standard mac file and printer security. They could make a server iChat - so all your work's remote Mac users could simply dial the internet, open iChat to the server, and access all their work network. Maybe add application specific sharing for iPhoto, iTunes (it would keep Apple in control of shared music), iCal - even an iSync option (and allow 3rd party Apps to do the same!).

That's what I'd like to see added. Security would be hell but Apple's got the pieces (AACs DRM, VPN, standard network security).
Greg
ps: Add Apple Remote Desktop so you could manage/take over remote Macs that had authorised you.

Originally posted by G5orbust I think Im the only person who doesnt care for the bubble messages. Seriously, they need to be replaced with something less cartoonish. OSX is being streamlined and turned into a professional looking OS. The bubbles just kind of make the whole tone of the program drop. I know you can change them to separated rectangles, but that so boring. C'mon Apple, do your thing! Aside from that, I like some Adium2 features like tabbed messages. iChat definitely needs a AIM profile manager and support for more than just AIM networks.

Sorry for the regurgitation of ideas, but anything repeated is more support.

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If you don't like the bubble messages just turn them off...you can do that in iChat. I personally like them but to each his own.

I was initially pretty disenchanted with ichat, but every other chat app loses to ichat simply because of ichat's integration with the address book. that's key.

Things I'd like to see though (i started a thread like this once before, so sorry if anyone's already read my rants on this...):

1) tabbed windows. holy christ yes. i used to use GAIM (which i adored mostly because of its tabbed windows) back in my Linux days, but (though i'm sure it could be run off of the unix base of osx) it isn't integrated with the addressbook, which is a feature i refuse to give up. Still, tabbed windows is a HUGE organizing advantage that's often overlooked. It NEEDS to be an option in future encarnations of ichat.

2) wider compatability. icq, yahoo, msn, all of that. I don't use most of them, but when i DO use yahoo or icq or what have you, it's WONDERFUL to be able to do it all in one prog.

3). yeah, animated buddy icons. what the hell. not important, but it just seems silly NOT to have it.

4) buddy info. now i know i can CHECK other people's buddy info...great...but i still have to keep a version of AIM for mac around just to edit my own info. that's absurd. totally absurd.

5) multiple simultaneous accounts. this is also something of a luxury, but something i got used to with gaim: the ability to be signed on with multiple accounts at once. different people have different IM names of mine, and i'd like to be able to be signed on to a few at once.

ichat disappoints me a little: it seems like kindof a half-assed result for a company that's usually so good about producing only the ultimate version of a program. (compare itunes to winamp, for example, and then compare ichat to AIM. ick.) You can do better, mac.

Originally posted by absurdio I was initially pretty disenchanted with ichat, but every other chat app loses to ichat simply because of ichat's integration with the address book. that's key.

Things I'd like to see though (i started a thread like this once before, so sorry if anyone's already read my rants on this...):

1) tabbed windows. holy christ yes. i used to use GAIM (which i adored mostly because of its tabbed windows) back in my Linux days, but (though i'm sure it could be run off of the unix base of osx) it isn't integrated with the addressbook, which is a feature i refuse to give up. Still, tabbed windows is a HUGE organizing advantage that's often overlooked. It NEEDS to be an option in future encarnations of ichat.

2) wider compatability. icq, yahoo, msn, all of that. I don't use most of them, but when i DO use yahoo or icq or what have you, it's WONDERFUL to be able to do it all in one prog.

3). yeah, animated buddy icons. what the hell. not important, but it just seems silly NOT to have it.

4) buddy info. now i know i can CHECK other people's buddy info...great...but i still have to keep a version of AIM for mac around just to edit my own info. that's absurd. totally absurd.

5) multiple simultaneous accounts. this is also something of a luxury, but something i got used to with gaim: the ability to be signed on with multiple accounts at once. different people have different IM names of mine, and i'd like to be able to be signed on to a few at once.

ichat disappoints me a little: it seems like kindof a half-assed result for a company that's usually so good about producing only the ultimate version of a program. (compare itunes to winamp, for example, and then compare ichat to AIM. ick.) You can do better, mac.

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adium 2.0 incorporated gaim support in their latest alpha build the other day, go check it out, it works quite nicely.

Originally posted by plasticparadox Video/audio chatting with Windows/*nix users. Apple should make an iChat for Windows client!

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nooo they shouldnt. apple should only make ichat for windows if they can dominat the market. apple did it with itunes cause every mac user pretty much loves itunes and uses it . i dont even use ichat anymore, and a lot of mac users arent happy with it. apple just needs to work with aol to get support, thats all.

Originally posted by iJon nooo they shouldnt. apple should only make ichat for windows if they can dominat the market. apple did it with itunes cause every mac user pretty much loves itunes and uses it . i dont even use ichat anymore, and a lot of mac users arent happy with it. apple just needs to work with aol to get support, thats all.

iJon

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The AIM beta for Windows has implemented video/audio chat, yet it's incompatible with iChat. If AOL didn't implement it now, well, I'm not sure that they will ever.

The only way I'll buy an iSight is if there is a decent Windows client available so that I can communicate with 95% of my friends.

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